Powell House Registered Heritage Structure

Carbonear, NL

Registered Heritage Structure

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Description

Powell House is a two-and-a-half storey late Victorian style house with a multi-gabled roof, located at 72 Water Street East, Carbonear, NL. The designation includes the building and surrounding garden.

Statement of Significance

Formal Recognition Type

Registered Heritage Structure

Heritage Value

Powell House was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1990 because of its aesthetic and historic value. Powell House has aesthetic value due to its style and design. Built by Saunders and Howell of Carbonear, the Powell House reflects the builders’ outport interpretation of the late Victorian style of architecture. This house is one of the few remaining examples of this building style in Carbonear. The original building materials of the house are largely intact both inside and out, with the exception of a few additions to the back and sides, such as the rear and side linhays. The interior wood wall covering was inspired by Powell’s travel to England, a commonly seen element in the houses built by Saunders & Howell. The Powell House sits on a large parcel of land surrounded by mature trees and a picket fence. Also on the property is a gable-roofed barn with wooden windows and multiple doors. The barn is not one which typically houses animals, and is as aesthetically pleasing as the dwelling house. Details include multi-paned windows with wide trim; a multi-panced window set in the single-front peak at the roof; returned eaves and a central chimney which protrudes from the roof ridge and which itself has a hipped cap. Powell House has historic value because of its associations with prominent Carbonear businessman J.P Powell. Powell was one of Carbonear’s leading citizens and well-known throughout Newfoundland. He was involved in the Reid Newfoundland Company and, at the turn of the century, built some of the earliest hydro plants in Newfoundland. He was famous for designing the Trinity Loop, a stretch of the Bonavista branch railway line that is unique in North America because it circles a small pond to obtain a decrease in elevation. Powell also was associated with Saunders and Howell, a major construction and building-supply company. Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “Carbonear – Powell House – FPT 1506”

Character Defining Elements

All original features which relate to the age and style of the house including: -steeply pitched gable roof; -gabled dormers; -original wooden windows, their sizes, shapes, materials and locations; -two-storey bay windows on front facade; -original windows and doors throughout; -narrow wood clapboard; -wide, plain trim on doors and windows; -simple decoration on house; -placement of chimneys, thier sizes, shapes and original-style materials; -all existing interior features which reflect the age and style of the building; -location, massing, height and dimensions; -mature garden surrounded by a picket fence; and Those elements associated with the barn, including: -gable roof with returned eaves; -single-front peak roof with an inset multi-paned window; -multi-paned windows with wide, flat trim; -plank wooden doors; -all windows and their original materials, sizes, shapes and locations; -central chimney protruding above the roof ridge and with a hipped cap; and -location, massing, height, and dimensions.

Notes

Powell is credited with obtaining from England the maple trees which line Water Street east.